Decisions, Decisions
by Cantanatova
Summary: When Tintin wakes up one morning in a luxury hotel with a mystery man next to her and a hazy recollection of the night before, she reflects on the events that led her there. Mild adult themes, follows on from Unexpected Encounter but only contains minor spoilers.
1. One morning

Decisions, Decisions

**A/N – This is a semi-sequel to Unexpected Encounter, and there may be some mild spoilers for that story in this. This is a bit different, so I hope you like it. Criticism and comments always welcome!**

**PS, for all those following Firepower, I haven't forgotten it, I'm just having a mental block on how the story should go, so I'm reverting to my first love **

Chapter 1

When Tintin awoke that morning, lying on her back with her legs tangled in the sheets, she was instantly aware of two things.

1 - It was a beautiful morning in Casablanca. The sunlight was gently falling across her from the French window that led to the balcony, standing slightly ajar to allow some ventilation. The sea breeze was gently lifting the thin white curtains of the hotel room, the sound of the Atlantic ocean gently whispering against the beach in the distance. Yes, definitely a beautiful morning.

2 - There was an arm draped across her stomach.

This arm was connected to a person. A person who lay face down on the luxurious bed next to her, his legs tangled in the white cotton sheets alongside her own.

The next thing Tintin thought, as she lay on her back in the large bed staring at the fan lazily turning in the centre of the ceiling and listening to the gentle snores of the person lying next to her, was 'how on Earth did this happen?'

-x-x-

It had been another beautiful morning on Tracy Island. Tintin was watching the glittering ocean from the balcony but for once the exquisite dance of the sunlight didn't capture her. She was straining every sense in her body to hear the one-sided conversations happening behind her.

"OK John, keep me updated with how the others are getting on. I want to know everything that happens."

She turned back to the balcony rail. Nothing about Alan yet. No news was good news, right?

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realise at first that Jeff Tracy, former astronaut turned philanthropist/businessman/emergency rescue coordinator, AKA patriarch of the Tracy Clan and Head of International Rescue, had come up behind her.

"Tintin, can you tell Brains to ready the sickbay?" Seeing the momentary fear in Tintin's eyes, Jeff continued, "Scott has injured his leg somehow and seems to have done some damage. After last year I'd rather be on the safe side."

Tintin nodded, feeling guilty about the relief coursing through her before worry for Scott replaced it. The year before, Scott had been kidnapped along with his brother John and their resident engineer Brains, and had been tortured for information on International Rescue. Although John and Brains had recovered quickly from the ordeal, Scott had slipped into an uncharacteristic depression that he had never really recovered from. Jeff Tracy was understandably taking no chances with his eldest son, and any small scrape on a mission sent him straight to the sick bay.

"Hi, T-Tintin," Brains called as she entered his workshop, from where he was crouched behind one of his latest inventions. "What's up?"

"Mr Tracy would like the sickbay prepared Brains."

"N-nothing serious, I hope?"

"It's for Scott again, so hopefully it isn't anything much. I think it's a precaution more than anything."

"Well t-that's a relief." The engineer straightened up and wiped his hands on a small white, fluffy towel, leaving traces of oil.

"Brains, you know father hates it when you use the best towels in your workshop," Tintin scolded, taking the towel from him and passing him some blue roll.

"Sorry Tintin. A-anyway, I'd best go and prepare the sickbay. See you l-later."

Tintin waved as he walked away then stood indecisively for a moment, wringing the oily towel between her hands, before deciding she may as well find out what was going on and walking back up to Jeff's office.

-x-x-

The two Thunderbird machines returned together from their mission. From the snippets Tintin had gathered during the quick report Virgil gave over the Videscreen, the boys had been rescuing a farmer (and a lot of cows) that had become trapped in their shed after a heavy snowfall in North America. One of the cows, out of fear, had managed to kick out at Scott and one large cloven hoof had connected with his knee.

Once the arrived back at the island, Virgil immediately whisked Scott to sickbay to get a closer look at the knee while Alan came up to Jeff's office to debrief. Tintin waited expectantly for the lift that brought the passengers from Thunderbird 2, not really believing that Alan was unhurt until she saw it herself. It was a ritual she performed every time Alan went on a resuce, one smiled at and indulged by both Jeff and her father Kyrano, but one completely unnoticed by Alan himself.

When Alan did emerge, he was covered from head to toe in a foul smelling muck. He shot a wink at Tintin before straightening up to deliver his quick report to his father.

"…and we managed to get all the cows free father, although in the stampede one accidently kicked Scott. Virgil think it's nothing but a bruise though, and he was still able to fly '1 home."

"Well that's good to hear Alan. Now what on Earth have you managed to get all over you?"

"It's cow muck, father. As the cows had been trapped in the barn for a while and had been frightened by our engines it was quite deep. As the cows were leaving, a large bull knocked me over into a pile of it."

"A large bull?" Virgil spoke up from behind Tintin, causing everyone to turn to look at him. The middle son was drying his hair with a large towel, his unbutton shirt indicating he had just come out of the shower. "I'm pretty sure it was just a baby. A calf, I think it's called."

"Well you were the other side of the shed, so I don't know how you saw it," Alan retorted, two red spots appearing on his cheeks.

"Boys! It doesn't matter what knocked you over Alan, you'd better go and get clean. We're expecting Lady Penelope here any minute, after all."

Tintin was very fond of Lady Penelope. Being surrounded by boys all the time she really appreciated the difference having another female around made to the conversation and pastimes on the island. However, in that moment she couldn't help but wish that Penelope wasn't coming to visit, as Alan immediately perked up. "Oh I forgot Penny was coming! I'll be ready in a second!" With that he rushed off towards his room and the shower awaiting him.

"Poor Tintin," Virgil commented, throwing an arm around the younger girl. "My brother is an idiot sometimes."

"Virgil," Jeff said in a warning tone, narrowing his eyes at his son.

"What? It's the truth. Come on Tintin, I'll show you how to play that piece you like so much." With that Virgil moved over to his beloved baby grand, opening the lid and lovingly running his fingers over the keys.

"No, it's ok Virgil," Tintin replied with a half-hearted smile. "I should go and help father prepare, we don't want him to argue with Parker again."

"Very wise." Virgil played a little trill on the keys, sounding suspiciously like a teaset crashing to the ground. "Maybe later then."

"Maybe," and Tintin left for the kitchen. There she found her father bustling around while Gordon, who hadn't been needed for the rescue and so had had a long lie in, sat stuffing himself with a large English-style cooked breakfast.

"Would you like some help father?"

Kyrano smiled at his daughter. "No Tintin, everything is ready. Even that Parker will not be able to find anything to complain about. You should relax and enjoy the morning."

"Yeah, come swimming with me Tintin," Gordon offered, pushing his now empty plate to one side. "The water will be perfect."

"Maybe another time Gordon. I don't feel like swimming. I'll just see if Brains needs a hand in his lab."

"And you should not be swimming so soon after eating, Mr Gordon."

As Tintin left she could hear the red-headed brother arguing with her father, and it raised a smile on her face. She made a couple of cups of tea and headed back to the workshop. When she got there, she plonked a mug next to Brains before hopping up on to one of the stools. Without looking up, Brains took a sip of tea and grimaced before asking "Alan again?"

Tintin's only response was to sigh.

"Let me g-guess, Lady Penelope is visiting?"

Tintin started swivelling on her stool before asking quietly, keeping her eyes on the floor, "Is it that obvious?"

"Whenever you make me overstewed t-tea with no sugar in it, i-it usually means Alan." Brains smiled shyly before returning to his project.

The pair sat in silence for a bit while Brains carried on working. Eventually Tintin's curiosity got the better of her and she spoke up. "What is it that you're working on?"

"It's a-a new type of battery, Tintin," Brains replied, evidently pleased to be asked. "It uses carbon dioxide to release the hydrogen in water for energy, a-and the only by-products are oxygen and diamond."

"Diamond? Really?" Her miseries forgotten in the interest of the new invention, Tintin hopped off her stool to get a closer look at the battery pack. It was about half her height, a large rectangular unit with pipes trailing out of it.

"T-the diamonds are quite inferior really," Brains explained. "But it should generate a lot of power. M-many of International Rescue's mission are to stop machines at risk of nuclear meltdown. This battery pack should be able to p-provide a similar amount of power, without the danger."

"That's wonderful Brains, truly wonderful."

"Yes well hopefully it will be, but it isn't ready yet. The carbon dioxide separates the water c-correctly, but then for some reason it overheats and the whole machine gets very hot. A-as yet I have not been able to find a s-solution for this problem."

"Would you like some help?"

The pair began working together on the new battery pack, completely absorbed in the invention and losing track of time. They might have been there for hours, if the tannoy hadn't announced the imminent arrival of one Lady Penelop Creighton-Ward.

**A/N – I hope you like this so far, if you do (or don't!) please review to let me know. I appreciate you all giving it a go!**


	2. Penny Visits

Decisions, Decisions

**Disclaimer – Whoops, I forgot this last time, but they don't belong to me!**

**A/N – I really appreciate the positive feedback I've had on the first chapter, so thank you to everyone who took the time to review.**

Chapter 2

Tintin was beginning to get a bad headache, probably caused by far too many cocktails the night before. She rarely drank, but in her hazy memory of the night before she definitely remembered knocking back several potent mixtures – Manhatten Blue, they had been called. A cocktail that the hotel bar had created using some dubious ingredients and blue food dye, though why it was called Manhatten anything when New York was an ocean away she didn't know.

Being horizontal was beginning to be unbearable with her spinning head, so she pulled herself up into a sitting position while being very careful not to disturb the sleeper next to her. That was a conversation she really didn't want to have, not yet. For a moment the thought of sneaking out crossed her mind, rejected when she remembered they were in _her_ hotel room. And besides, it would be unkind. She definitely owed him an explanation if nothing else.

Tintin rubbed the back of her eyes with one hand, picking up a small glass of water from her bedside table with the other. She sipped it slowly while she thought things over and tried to think of a way out of her current predicament.

-x-x-

Virgil had been playing a jazz piece on the piano when Tintin had entered the lounge with Brains close behind her. Lady Penelope, the beautiful blond English aristocrat with impeccable dress sense and manners to match, sat on one of the small chairs by the coffee table with a cup of tea already delicately balanced on a saucer in a dainty hand. She was talking to Jeff, with Alan standing slightly behind the sofa his father sat on. Gordon was nowhere to be seen, but Tintin suspected he was still trawling up and down the swimming pool. Scott was also conspicuous in his absence.

Jeff smiled at her and Brains. "Ah, here come our resident engineers! Time to take a break you two, and join us for a while."

"S-sure, Mr. Tracy." Brains stammered, before sitting stiffly on the small sofa next to Jeff. Lady Penelope stood up gracefully and enveloped Tintin in a perfumed hug.

"It's simply wonderful to see you again, Tintin. It has been too long."

"Far too long," Tintin agreed, smiling at the older lady. "It is lovely to see you as well, Penelope." She meant it as well – insecure jealousy aside, she really did value the friendship of the aristocrat. Her presence brought an extra spark of life to the island that had too often been missing of late.

"You must come and visit the manor soon," Penelope declared, sitting down and patting the seat next to her to invite Tintin to join her. "There is a delightful little theatre I found recently that is playing classical opera. I think that you would simply love it."

One of Tintin's favourite pastimes was visiting the opera, and she happily talked about her favourite pieces for a while with Virgil obligingly playing some of them in the background. The other men in the room weren't that interested in opera, and couldn't really join in the conversation. Brains sat shyly drinking his tea, Jeff was happy to listen to the girls talk but Alan was soon bored by a conversation in which he had no part.

"Hey Penny, have we told you yet about the rescue earlier today?"

"No Alan, but I am simply dying to hear about it. Your adventures always sound so exciting. What happened?"

Alan happily regaled Penelope with his story of the rescue, adding more raging bulls and breaking rafters than Tintin remembered from the earlier rendition. In the middle of it, Jeff leant over to Tintin with a small frown on his face.

"Tintin, could you go and find Scott for me? I expected him to be here by now."

"Of course Mr Tracy," Tintin slipped from her seat and left the room, smiling to herself as Alan's story became more and more embellished.

Finding Scott was harder than Tintin had anticipated. She checked the obvious places: the sickbay, his bedroom, the games room – but drew a blank in all of them. Eventually she stopped in the hallway and considered. Scott's knee was injured, so he would struggle to climb stairs. This ruled out the beach or John's astronomy deck. This only really left the lift to the hanger, so that's where Tintin headed. When she entered from the workshop door she was rewarded by seeing the dark haired Tracy boy tinkering with one of Thunderbird 1's accessories.

"What are you doing, Scott?"

Scott jumped, but visibly relaxed when he saw it was Tintin. "I'm just trying to fix this remote camera. It hasn't been connecting properly on missions and I've had to use the spare. I didn't want to bother Brains with it so…" He spread his hands wide as though that was a complete explanation as to why he was sat by himself in Thunderbird 1's hanger fixing a camera when Lady Penelope was visiting.

As though sensing it was a rubbish excuse, Scott pushed his chair away from the workbench and turned to face Tintin. "Truthfully, it's all been a bit much. I like seeing Penny, but she's been visiting nearly every other week. And every time she's here I feel like I'm not allowed out of her sight. I don't mind that much, but it's nice to have some quiet and time to myself."

"Oh dear. But Scott, she visits to cheer you up. You always seem so much happier during her visits."

"Well it does brighten up the Island, and cheer up dad." He shrugged and returned to his work, completely engrossed in the minutiae of the electronics.

"What happened last year, Scott?"

Scott froze, before placing the pliers on the workbench and turning back to her. "You know Tintin, I think you're probably the only person that has actually asked me that."

"I think Mr Tracy thought that it was best not to remind you of it, and has just hoped that time would heal you. But I think you lost something of yourself that day, and haven't regained it yet."

"And probably never will," Scott murmured, before standing and wrapping his arm around Tintin's shoulders. "You're very perceptive sometimes, Tintin. Now we'd better go and make small talk before father sends a search party down after us." Steering Tintin by the shoulders, the two of them slowly made their way back to the lounge. Tintin thought that Scott had evaded the question, but then maybe she shouldn't have asked it at all.

-x-x-

The moment Scott made his grand entrance, hobbling in behind Tintin, he immediately became the focus of the party. Laughingly he waved away Penelope's efforts to make him comfortable, explaining that he had no one else to blame other than himself for getting in the way of an irate cow. He did succumb to one of Parker's 'special' cocktails though, as he wasn't going to be able to go out on a mission even if something happened.

Alan came over to where Tintin was standing. "What is it about Scott – whenever he enters a room the rest of us are forgotten!"

"Oh Alan, Penelope spoke to you earlier. Let Scott have his turn now."

"I suppose. Hey Tintin, would you like a drink?"

"Oh yes please Alan, but nothing too strong."

"Of course," Alan began mixing at the bar, an elaborate display that including several airborne elements and surreptitious glances to see if anyone was paying attention, other than Tintin of course. He was just shaking the ice when the silver shaker split open – and rained crushed ice down on both Alan and Tintin!

That drew the attention of the room – but probably not in the way Alan had been hoping for. Jeff Tracy guffawed loudly, Lady Penelope managed to just about contain her mirth to a restrained giggle, but his brothers were far less restrained and laughed loudly.

"Is it raining Alan?" Virgil called, his piano momentarily forgotten.

"Snowing, apparently," Scott added, looking at the ice scattered over the smooth tiled floor.

"Stop it you two, it was just an accident," Tintin scolded, trying to stick up for Alan. However, the youngest Tracy stomped out of the room with a cross expression.

"H-here Tintin," Brains said, handing her a towel. "You have i-ice in your, um, hair." And he reached up to brush a piece of ice away, blushing when she gave him a warm smile.

"Thank you, Brains," she then looked ruefully at her empty glass. "Shame about the drink."

"H'what would you like, Miss Tintin?" Parker asked, taking up station behind the bar. "H'I can make you h'one of my…er….specials, h'if you like?"

"Oh no Parker," she laughed. "I have heard about your specials! A simple gin and tonic is fine for me."

"Very h'well," and in no time Tintin had a new drink in front of her. The normal chatter resumed, and Tintin managed to slip out onto the balcony, sipping her drink whilst watching the evening sun cast orange sunbeams across the ocean. Had it only been this morning that she had stood and waited expectantly for news about Alan? It seemed so long ago now.

Her reverie was interrupted when Brains joined her.

"A-are you ok, Tintin?"

"Oh yes Brains. I'm just thinking, that's all."

"O-oh good." They stood together for a while, watching the sky slowly darken. Eventually Tintin broke the silence.

"Do you think friends can ever see each other as…more than friends, Brains?"

"I'd…err…I'd like to think so, T-tintin," Brains replied, staring down at his hands. "I'm s-sure Alan will realise one day-"

"Alan? Who said anything about Alan?" Tintin interrupted quickly – too quickly. "I just meant…hypothetically."

"Oh…o-of course."

Turning to go back indoors, Tintin reached up and pecked the engineer on the cheek. "Thank you for being such a good friend, Brains." And with that she left him, standing by himself on the balcony in the twilight.


End file.
